Plan of Action

I gave up Keto around June of 2019, after having successfully lost over 30lbs. I was doing really well on it and it was the easiest and most successful diet I have ever come across. However, some changes in my work life resulted in my working around 14-18 hours a day and not having time to cook for a while. My plan was to get back onto Keto once things settled down.

The downfall of life is thinking we can plan it.

Come to find out, I may be genetically prone to a lot of fatty liver autoimmune issues that I still don't really understand, but that means that (at least until I know for sure), I've been advised to avoid a full Keto diet.

Since I have managed to gain all the weight I lost on Keto back in the past year (my hours at work led to unhealthy eating habits and zero exercise), I needed a new plan of action.

After a bit of research, as well as talking to my sister and past attempts at weight loss from before I started Keto, I'm currently trying the following:

Thrive:

Thrive is a series of three supplements that includes vitamins, shakes, and patches. Together, they are supposed to help with:

Mental Clarity
Sleep patterns (energy during the day and support sleep regulation at night)
Joint function
Immune Support
Weight management (with an appetite suppressant)
Etc.

My sister swears by Thrive. I've had the shakes before and they are great appetite suppressants, and I've used the patches for the mental clarity when I was sleep deprived because of my work hours, but I've never used the vitamins and never consistently followed any plan with them the way they are meant to be followed (take the vitamins as soon as you wake up, drink the shake 30 minutes later, change the patch daily each morning). This will be a new experience for me, but it's worth a shot.

30:30:40 Diet:

Everything that I've researched, whether for Keto, Paleo, or even just lean diets have all said the same thing: successful weight loss isn't just about calorie cutting or eating "healthier." To successfully lose weight, you need to look at your macros every day. Macros = the percentage of carbs, fats, and proteins you consume. Whatever diet plan you follow, macros are adjusted to fit. Keto is about high fats, low proteins, and super low carbs. Paleo is about high proteins, medium fats, and low carbs. Lean diets are about high proteins, super low fats and carbs.
The one thing they all have in common is low carbs. It's the fats and proteins that vary.

Carbs: The number of grams of carbs you eat per day directly affects your weight.

Over 150g per day: Weight or muscle gain (depending on exercise)
Between 100-150g per day: Maintain weight
Between 100-50g per day: Slow weight loss
Less than 50g per day: Fast weight loss

Because I have a horrible tendency to give up if I don't see fast results, I chose to go with 45g of carbs or less daily. With the 30:30:40 diet plan, that means those 45g needs to make up 30% or less of my daily intake.

Note: Veggies, Fruit, Nuts, and Bread are all high in carbs. As long as I'm under 45g per day, I'll still lose weight, even if that's all from breads/pastas. However, for health reasons, it is better to stick to healthier carbs like fruits and veggies.

Fats: There is no right or wrong here, as long as you are consuming healthy fats (nuts, avocado, oils, cheeses, etc). The number of fats you can consume is based on the diet plan you want to follow and how that plan affects your body. Keto is high fat with the intent of putting your body into ketosis. It works really well for a lot of people. Paleo is medium fats, and again works really well for a lot of people.

However, because of the genetic health issues I just found out about, I am going with a lower fat diet as well as ensuring I'm consuming healthy fats. With the 30:30:40 diet plan, fats need to make up 30% or less of my daily intake. With the 45 daily grams of carbs that I am aiming for, that means I can have 65g or less of healthy fats each day.

Proteins: Ah, my favorite portion of any diet. I LOVE meats/fish. However, some meats are fattier than others, so this means I have to watch which meats I consume so that I fall under the allotted macros. With the 30:30:40 diet plan, fats need to make up 40% or more of my daily intake. With the 45 daily grams of carbs that I am aiming for, that means I can have 107g or more of healthy fats each day. I can go over on my proteins, and under on fats and carbs and still be doing well, so as long as I'm choosing leaner meats, I should be good.

Red meats are a favorite, but unfortunately are fattier than white meats. Double unfortunately, my all-time favorite meat, Salmon, is also a higher fat. But again, as long as I'm watching my macros, I will keep up the weight loss. And salmon is always healthy. Mmmmm.